


The Prologue and the Epilogue

by dr33g



Category: Fire Emblem Echoes: Mou Hitori no Eiyuu Ou | Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia
Genre: Gen, M/M, Pre-Canon, Pre-Relationship, at least partially, for the valentia gift exchange !!!!!!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-01
Updated: 2019-01-01
Packaged: 2019-10-02 02:54:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 984
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17256278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dr33g/pseuds/dr33g
Summary: A few snippets of life before the war, and a scene of life after.





	The Prologue and the Epilogue

**Author's Note:**

> HELLLL YEAH VALENTIA SECRET SANTA I GO OFF HOES ok this is actually a soft ass fic and i hope my giftee likes iiiit and everyone else that reads it cuz i like it. kinda

“Don’t lock your knees. If you do, you could be pushed over, or faint,” said Mycen, calm and steady. Alm slowly bent his knees. He looked up at his grandfather, wooden sword in hand. “Loosen your grip. Your hands will get tired if you hold it too tight.” Alm slowly releases his grip a bit, making his knuckles gain color back into them. “Good. Now, where are the 6 basic blocking positions?” 

“One.” Alm lifts his arm to protect his head. “Two.” Alm protects his left torso. “Three.” Right torso. “Four.” Left side of neck. “Five.” Right side of neck. “Six.” Base of torso. “Good.” Alm smiles, glad to have been right. “What are the kinds of advantages you can gain in battle?”

Alm says, “Terrain lowers accuracy, protecting the defender.” Mycen nods. 

“Good. Now, we spar.” Alm took a deep breath and looked into his grandfather’s eyes and nodded. “On my count.”

“3, 2--”

\--

“You have a lot of bruises, Alm…” said Kliff, very concerned.

Alm shrugged, not really feeling them. “That’s how sparring goes, sometimes. Better than bleeding!” Kliff frowns deeper.

“Aren’t bruises just internal bleeding?” he murmured, concerned.

“But that’s where the blood is supposed to be?”

“...”

“What?”

“N-Nothing. Just. Sit here, I’m going to grab some salve Tobin’s mom makes for when he and Gray fall out of the orange tree.”

Alm grinned and said, “Thanks!” Kliff’s face got slightly redder and he mumbled something unintelligible. Alm figured he was just embarrassed! That would make sense, after all. Kliff went off and Alm did as he said, sitting right where he was, and waited.

He thought about how kind Kliff was to do this for him. It was really considerate! Alm had no idea how people could think Kliff was rude. He took care of him, after all! Therefore, Kliff is nice! Plain and simple.

Kliff didn’t take very long and quickly came back with a jar of some honey-smelling goop. “This helps the bruises fade faster and makes them not ache as much,” he muttered, sitting down next to Alm. He scooped some out with his hand and began rubbing some on a bruise that Alm had on his forearm, before stopping, turning red, and stuttering out, “Uh. I should’ve asked. Sorry, here’s the jar-” Kliff attempted to hand Alm the jar.

“No, don’t worry about it! It was really nice of you to do it.” Alm smiled, but took the jar anyway, realizing that Kliff was probably going to insist either way. He put some of the goop on his fingers and began rubbing it into the bruises, one at a time. Kliff seemed a little stressed still, though Alm wasn’t sure why. Luckily, it seemed to dissipate as he rubbed more and more on his bruises, causing them to fade. 

“See? Do they hurt less now?” Kliff asked, poking one rather firmly. Alm pretended to wince and fell over.

“Owww, why would you poke me so harrrd, I’m dyingggg, bleeeeh.” Kliff rolled his eyes and shoved Alm’s prone form. 

“Whatever, shut up.” Alm just laughed, and Kliff grumbled something and turned pink. Alm sat up and nudged his shoulder against Kliff’s.

“You’re just so fun to tease! I can’t help it.” Kliff huffed and turned away. “I do it because I care about you! And it’s fun.” Kliff made another noise of… Distress? And turned to Alm, face red.

“You- You can’t just say things like that!”

“Uh, why not?”

“Because!” Kliff threw up his hands in exasperation. Alm laughed at him. “Ugh, you’re-- UGH!” Kliff stood up, covered his face with his hands, and stormed off, leaving Alm to sit there, confused.

What did he do wrong?

\--

“Grandpapa, I think I hurt Kliff’s feelings,” Alm said to Mycen over dinner.

“Why do you think that?”

“Today, he was acting kinda weird? He kept stuttering and yelling at me. And his face was all red. And he got mad at me for teasing him and laughing, I think. I feel kinda bad.” Mycen just laughed. “What’s so funny?”

“You haven’t hurt his feelings.”

“Then why was he acting like that?” Mycen got up and rubbed Alm’s head.

“You’ll understand when you’re older.” Alm frowned, thinking hard. 

What was that supposed to mean?

\--

That night, Alm thought long and hard about what Mycen could’ve meant. After all, he was pretty old! He had a right to know, right?

He sighed and closed his eyes.

He’d figure it out when he was older.

~[Some Years Later]~

“Oh, gods, I just remembered something,” said Alm, arm wrapped around his husband, Kliff. They were in bed, fireplace raging with a spell that Kliff had cast.

“What?” Kliff responded, mostly looking at his book.

“Do you remember that day where you tried to help me with my training bruises and you just got upset and left?”

“Oh, gods, yeah. Why?”

“You liked me even back then, didn’t you?”

Kliff made a choking noise and shoved his face in his book, a muffled, “Shut up,” coming from the pages. Alm laughed and pressed a kiss to Kliff’s temple.

“It’s cute.”

“It’s embarrassing.”

Alm snorted and laid his head on Kliff’s shoulder. “I’m gonna sleep.”

“Alright, but don’t blame me when you wake up with neck problems.”

“Good night, Kliff. I love you.”

“Love you too, dumbass.”

Alm’s last thoughts as he drifted to sleep were that he really had figured it out when he was older, huh. Grandfather had been right. 

As Alm’s breathing became deeper, the pair of golden rings gleamed in the light of the fire. The weather outside was cold, though when was Valm not cold this far north, but Kliff smiled, warm from both the flame and his husband’s company. He took the crown on Alm’s head (it was digging into his shoulder) and placed it on the table next to their bed. 

“Good night, my king,” he whispered.

**Author's Note:**

> kudos and comment if you enjoyed ! thank you for reading !! i have [commissions](https://twitter.com/kiralfonse/status/1061825994741272585) open here !! feel free to contact me if ur interested ^_^


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